Your Spelling Bee Companion for Monday, June 22, 2026
A field guide for the C A E H I L M hive: how many words to look for, where the big points are hiding, and full answer lists only when you decide you are ready to reveal them.
Today's Board
Verified Answers
55
Disputed Words
6
Pangrams
1
Score for Queen Bee
229
Genius estimate: 160 points
Verified Answers
55
Find every accepted word in today's puzzle
Pangrams
1
Use all seven letters
Disputed Words
6
Real-looking words to treat with caution
Puzzle Snapshot
Solve The Hive Before The Spoilers
This page is currently in hint mode: you get the board, counts, estimated score targets, and strategy prompts without answer words. Reveal specific words only when you are ready to check your solve.
Today's Read
55-word board with one pangram and a deep CH family
Today's hive puts C in the center and spreads most of its value through CH, CL, and CAL/CAM branches rather than a huge pangram cluster. Start by testing CH- shapes, then extend short bases like CALL, CLAIM, and CAMEL into longer payoffs before you sweep the four-letter cleanup. There is only one pangram, so the board rewards steady pattern-building more than blind all-letter hunting.
Verified answers
55
Max score
229
Genius
160
1 pangram
Pangram Hunt
Start by forcing every letter into longer shapes before clearing short entries. Pangrams are the fastest way to move the score.
229 possible points
Point Density
The current candidate pool estimates a Genius target around 160 points. Longer words matter more than raw word count.
55 verified answers
Queen Bee Path
Use the word lists below to scoop up every point you need to reach Queen Bee.
Study mode
Definition Pass
Click unfamiliar words to reveal their definitions and cement them in your memory for next time.
Spoiler-Light Scan
Two-Letter Start Counts
Use these starts as a checklist without revealing full answers.
CH
12
words
CA
8
words
AC
5
words
CL
4
words
CE
3
words
LA
3
words
LE
3
words
MA
3
words
MI
3
words
HE
2
words
LI
2
words
CI
1
word
Score Planning
Word-Length Grid
Longer words carry more score. Clear them before the four-letter cleanup.
4 letters
20
one-point cleanup
5 letters
19
score-building row
6 letters
8
score-building row
7 letters
5
score-building row
8 letters
3
1 pangram
Progressive Hint
First-Letter Counts
C
28
answers
L
8
answers
M
7
answers
A
5
answers
H
3
answers
E
2
answers
I
2
answers
Pattern Prompts
Work The Board Without Reveals
CH family first
Nine accepted answers start with CH, including the pangram and several mid-length score builders, so this is the fastest lane to open.
Stretch CALL, CLAIM, and CAM stems
This hive keeps rewarding you for not stopping at the first obvious base word; short C-starts expand into six-, seven-, and eight-letter payoffs.
-CAL and -ICE endings pay off
Once you spot the scientific and adjective endings, they unlock several of the board's hardest accepted words.
Repeated letters are not optional
Double L, double C, and repeated I shapes are everywhere today, so solvers who avoid repeats will miss a lot of the grid.
HELI / HEMI style builds
The longer technical-looking words are real scoring territory here, not edge-case distractions.
Leave the four-letter sweep for last
Twenty accepted answers are only four letters long, so they are better used as cleanup once the long CH and CAL branches are gone.
Common Prefixes
CH
CH is the board's dominant opening and drives both the pangram lane and several cleanup words.
CA
CA opens multiple branches that keep extending if you resist cashing out too early.
CL
CL stays productive across both ordinary and harder accepted words.
HE
HE is worth checking because it feeds two of the longest technical-looking answers.
Common Suffixes
-CAL
The CAL ending marks some of the board's most valuable scientific and adjective-style answers.
-ICE
ICE shows up in a polished common word and a trickier extension, so it is worth testing against new stems.
-IAC
IAC is unusual enough to miss, but it closes out two accepted anatomy-style words.
-CLE
CLE is a live finish in both a familiar and a rarer accepted answer.
Progressive Help
Pangram Hints
Pangram shape
There is one pangram, and it leans scientific rather than conversational.
Letter-path nudge
Try a word that opens with CHE- and keeps building toward a familiar adjective ending.
Reveal the pangram
If you want the full solve path, reveal the only all-letter answer.
Reveal words: chemical
Spoiler Control
Notable Words
- chemicalPangram
- camellia8 pts
- acclaim7 pts
- chalice7 pts
- hamachi7 pts
- helical7 pts
- malice6 pts
- emcee5 pts
- heliacal8 pts
- challah7 pts
Why these matter
- chemical
CHEMICAL is the only pangram, so finding it settles the full letter map and gives the biggest single scoring swing.
- camellia
CAMELLIA is the longest accepted answer and the clearest reward for extending the CAM family instead of banking early.
- acclaim
ACCLAIM proves that doubled C and the CLAIM stem both matter, making it a strong early pattern checkpoint.
- chalice
CHALICE is a clean six-letter bridge from the big CH cluster into the productive -ICE ending.
- helical
HELICAL opens the technical-looking side of the board and helps you see how -CAL keeps paying.
- hamachi
HAMACHI is a high-value seven-letter answer that feels more surprising than its score would suggest.
- emcee
EMCEE is a reminder that repeated E is live and that modern usage words can still be worth guarding.
- malice
MALICE is useful because it turns the short MALIC branch into a sturdier six-point finish.
Hard Finds
Tricky Accepted Words
- camellia
Easy to stop at CAMEL; the flower extension is one of the day's biggest point jumps.
- heliacal
Looks technical and shares letters with easier shapes, so it is a common near-miss if you only try HELICAL.
- helical
A real score-builder hiding inside a science-style spelling pattern.
- celiac
Its vowel order is slippery, but the IAC ending is live today.
- iliac
Short, valid, and easy to doubt unless you already spot the anatomy cluster.
- emcee
Repeated E and the spoken-letter feel make it easy to leave off the board.
- hamachi
This is a valuable seven-letter answer and one of today's least obvious food words.
- malic
Shorter than MALICE and easier to skip, but it is part of the same productive family.
Disputed Candidates
Plausible Rejections
- caliche
It fits the letters and looks consistent with the CH/CAL board, but it is not in today's verified source list.
- ceca
The plural-looking anatomy shape is plausible from the live letters, yet it is still outside the accepted source set.
- ceil
Common-looking letter order makes it tempting, but the verified answer list does not include it today.
- cella
It extends CELL cleanly enough to feel right, but today's source does not accept it.
- chela
Another strong CH candidate that passes the hive test without making the curated answer list.
- chile
It is a familiar real word and matches the board's CH lane, but it remains unverified for this date.
Answer Vault
All The Words You Need And A Few You Don't.
Trusted words are your safest answer list. Disputed words are real-looking candidates that may not count in the curated puzzle, but they can still be useful for review.